Supplement to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica/Aguesseau (Henry Francis D’)

AGUESSEAU (Henry Francis D’), a Chancellor of France, illustrious for his virtues, learning, and talents, was born at Limoges on the 27th of November 1668. His father, at that time Intendant of Languedoc, and afterwards a Counsellor of State, was a man of great worth and abilities. He seems to have taken the sole charge of his son’s education; and having destined him for the Bar, he took uncommon pains to exercise him in every branch of knowledge which could contribute to his success in that profession. His care was rewarded with the happiest success. Young D’Aguesseau gave early indications of uncommon abilities; and such was his thirst for knowledge, and his habits of application, that he soon acquired the reputation of an almost universal scholar. He had a particular relish for poetry, which, he used to say, “was the only passion of his youth;” but this passion was so far from withdrawing him from severer studies, that it was allied in his mind with a nearly equal taste for mathematics. He studied law with the zeal of an antiquary, and the spirit of a philosopher; and, in order to form his taste as a pleader, he employed a whole year in repeated perusals of the most esteemed productions of ancient eloquence. After this thorough course of preparation, he became an advocate in 1690; and, by the interest of his father, who now resided in Paris, he was soon furnished with opportunities of distinguishing himself, and of rising to the highest honours of the profession. When little more than twenty-one years of age, he was appointed one of the three Advocates-general;—an office which imposed the duty of assisting in those causes where the king, the church, or the public were concerned. The king, (Louis XIV.) in appointing him, yet untried, to this situation, acted solely upon the recommendation of the elder D’Aguesseau, “who was incapable,” said Louis, “of deceiving him, even to advance his own son,” D’Aguesseau’s first appearances as an advocate-general were such as amply to fulfil the expectations of his father, and to warrant the appointment which he had obtained from the king. Denis Talon, an old lawyer, who had long officiated, with great reputation, in the same capacity, was heard to say, “that he should have been glad to have finished his career as that young man had begun.”

D’Aguesseau held this office for ten years; during which period he greatly distinguished himself, both for learning in his profession, and for a superior style of forensic eloquence. He was, indeed, one of the first reformers of the language of the French bar, which had not yet taken much polish from the national improvements in taste and literature. His diction, both in his pleadings and in his juridical compositions, was that of a mind expanded by a liberal course of study, and refined by a familiar acquaintance with classical models. The society which he chiefly frequented was also well adapted to improve his taste; for the chosen companions of his leisure hours were Racine and Boileau; the latter of whom has frequently mentioned him with praise in his writings.

It was D’Aguesseau’s opinion, that no one could rise to distinguished eminence as an orator, who did not labour to enlarge and polish his mind by the study of philosophy, and by exercises of literature; and he accordingly employed several of those stated discourses, which the usages of France required from the advocates-general at the opening of the sessions, to impress this doctrine upon the minds of the younger members of the bar. Such, in particular, was the object of his discourse, pronounced in 1695, Sur l’Union de la Philosophie et de l’Eloquence. The same subject is treated at greater length, and in a more systematic and preceptive manner, in a treatise, written at a later period, under the title of Instructions sur l’Etude et les Exercices qui peuvent preparer aux Fonctions d’Avocat du Roi. These pieces (Œuvres, Tom. 1) are written in a clear, manly, and harmonious style, and are well worthy the attention of the general scholar, for their critical strictures on those authors whom he recommends to the students of law.

In the year 1700 he was appointed Procurator-general;—an office of higher dignity, and imposing more various and extensive duties, than that of advocate-general. He filled this office for seventeen years with the most splendid reputation; adding, by his lenity in criminal cases, and by his care of the public hospitals, the praise of humanity and benevolence to his other claims to the admiration of his country-men. The political philosopher of the present day will probably, however, be inclined to question the justness of the encomiums bestowed upon his exertions during the severe scarcity of 1709; on which occasion, he appears to have instituted the most rigorous proceedings against those who were held up as enemies of their country and of mankind, under the names of forestallers and monopolists. But, in alluding to this part of his conduct, it may be proper to mention, that his opposition, at an after period, to the delusive projects of the famous John Law, and his elaborate treatise upon the subject of Money, (Œuvres, Tom. X.) afford undeniable proofs of the soundness of his views, in regard to some of the most important principles of political economy.

It had been early predicted of D’Aguesseau, that he would one day fill the place of Chancellor; and this prediction was at length realized in 1717, upon the death of Voisin, who then held the seals. Though he was yet little more than forty-eight years of age, his nomination to this high dignity gave general satisfaction; and was, indeed, intended as a popular measure by the Duke of Orleans, who had lately assumed the regency. His brother Valjouan, a man of abilities, but slothful and a humourist, was the only person who spoke with indifference on the occasion. “Rather you than I, brother,” was his only remark when the new Chancellor hastened to him to announce his appointment. In fact, D’Aguesseau was soon made to experience the storms attendant upon this lofty station; for he had not been installed above a year, when he was deprived of the seals, and exiled to his estate. His steady opposition to the extravagant projects of Law, with which the regent and his ministers were wholly intoxicated, was the honourable cause of this first reverse of his fortune. In 1720, when the ruinous consequences of these schemes had filled the nation with distress and alarm, the chancellor was recalled from banishment; and he contributed not a little, by the firmness and sagacity of his counsels, to calm the public murmurs, and repair the mischiefs which had been committed.

Law himself had acted as the messenger of his recall; and it is said, that D’Aguesseau’s consent to re-accept the seals from the hand of this adventurer, was much blamed by the literary corps, with which he had hitherto stood in high favour, as well as by the parliament. But his reputation appears to have sustained a much severer shock, when he endeavoured to prevail with the latter body, to register the declaration of the late king in favour of the famous bull Unigenitus;—a measure which they held in great abhorrence, and which he had himself firmly opposed during the life af Lewis. The regent’s favourite Dubois, then Archbishop of Cambray, had moved his master to insist upon this act of registration, in the hope that he might thereby obtain for himself a Cardinal’s hat; and it seems to have been thought, that the Chancellor had yielded his better opinion in compliance with the wishes of this worthless minion. Be this as it may, it is certain that he opposed the favourite with firmness, when he attempted, after being made prime minister, to take precedence in the council; and he was in consequence, in 1722, sent a second time into exile.

He now passed five years on his estate at Fresnes; and he always spoke with delight of this tranquil period, when he was left free from the cares of professional duty, and the distractions of public life, to cultivate his mind. The Scriptures, which he read and compared in various languages, and the laws of his own and other countries, formed the subjects of his more serious studies; the rest of his time was devoted to philosophy and literature, and the improvement of his park, where he was sometimes to be seen employed with a spade.

From these noble and congenial occupations he was again recalled, by the advice of Cardinal Fleury, in 1727; but the seals were not restored to him till ten years thereafter. During the intervening period, he had endeavoured to mediate in the new disputes which had arisen between the court and the parliament; but his interference seems to have given satisfaction to neither party; the one reproaching him with desertion from their cause, and the other with too great a leaning towards it. When the seals were at last restored to him, he completely withdrew from all affairs of state, and devoted himself entirely to his duties as Chancellor, and to the introduction of those reforms which had long occupied his inquiries and meditations.

Besides some important enactments regarding Testaments, Successions, and Donations, he introduced various regulations for improving the forms of procedure,—for ascertaining the limits of Jurisdictions,—and for effecting a greater uniformity in the execution of the jaws throughout the several provinces. These reforms constitute a sort of epoch in the history of the jurisprudence of France, and have associated his name with those illustrious benefactors of her Civil Code,—L’Hopital and Lamoignon. The Duke de Saint-Simon however, alleges, that the Chancellor’s reforms did not go so far as they would have gone, had he had less affection for his own order. He once, says this writer, confessed to a nobleman who spoke to him upon the propriety of cutting off certain lucrative abuses, that he could not bring his mind to a step which would so grievously diminish the profits of the law.

In 1750, when upwards of eighty-two years of age, he besought the king to accept his resignation; and he was accordingly permitted to retire, the king continuing to him the honours of his office as a special mark of his approbation. He died in the following year; and was interred, according to his own request, in the common burial-place of the village of Auteuil, where the remains of his wife, who died there in 1735, had been deposited. The name of this lady, whom he married in 1694, and by whom he had several children, was Anne Le Fevre d’Ormesson.

This great man has not, in all respects, been equally praised by those, who have, in their writings, transmitted his character to posterity. Saint-Simon and others reproach him with a degree of tardiness and indecision in his judgments, which sometimes greatly obstructed the course of justice. His own answer to this charge has been recorded by Duclos, and is worthy of notice: “When I recollect,” said he, “that the decree of a Chancellor is a law, I think myself warranted in taking a long time for consideration.” Saint-Simon and D’Argenson also impute to him some defects as a statesman; but his elevation of mind and extensive knowledge, his piety, probity, and disinterestedness, have been universally admitted and extolled. In his magisterial capacity, he was grave and dignified, without any approach to haughtiness; in private society, his manners were mild, equal, and even playful. He was particularly remarkable for the tenaciousness of his memory, and for the facility with which he could direct his attention to the most diversified exercises of intellect or imagination. At eighty years of age, he has been heard to repeat whole poems, which he had never perused since the days of his early youth; and when fatigued with professional duties, he could turn with equal alacrity to Euclid or to Racine. In summing up his character, all must agree with La Harpe, that he was “a man who did honour to France, to the magistracy, and to letters, by his virtues, his talents, his profound and various learning, and his enlightened views in the science of jurisprudence.” (Cours de Litterature, Tom. XIV. c. 1.)

His published writings form a collection of thirteen volumes quarto; of which the first volume was published at Paris in 1759, and the last in 1789. The far greater part of these volumes relate to matters connected with his professional character and studies; but they also contain a variety of pieces upon miscellaneous subjects. We have already mentioned his discourses on the studies befitting the students of law, and his treatise on Money; and besides these, and some theological pieces, there is a Life of his Father, interesting from the view which it affords of his own early education under that excellent person; together with “Metaphysical Meditations,” written in vindication of the grand truth, that, independently of all revelation, and all positive law, there is that in the constitution of the human mind which renders man a law to himself.

See Histoire des Hommes Illustres de Regnes de Louis XIV. et de Louis XV. par le Duc de Saint-Simon. Memoirs Secretes, par Duclos. Les Loisirs d’un Ministre d’Etat, par D’Argenson. Eloge de D’Aguesseau, par Thomas.